Concrete-block machine.



L. FLANAGAN.

CONCRETE BLOCK MACHINE.

ABPLIOATION FILED APB. 4, 190s,

920,851.. Patented May 4, 1909.

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sa 4f WW1/two@ L. PLANAGAN.

l GONGRETE BLOCK MAGHINE.

' APPLIOATION I ILBD APR; 4, 1908. 920,851 Patented May 4, 1909.

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L. PLANAGAN. CONCRETE -BLocK MAGHINE. APPLIOATIOX FILED APRA, 190.8. 920,85 1 Patented May 4, 1909.

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LEWIS FLANAGAN, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

CONCRETE-BLOCK MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 4, 1909.

Application filed April 4, 1908. Serial No. 425,145.

To all whom 'it 'may concern." v Y Be it known that I, Lnwis FLANAGAN, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Concrete-Block Machines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to makeand use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to machines for the manufacture of cement or concrete blocks.

In my improved construction I employ a reciprocating plunger or follower which acts to pack the material within the mold, and also to feed the lattervertically downwardly through the machine, two opposite walls of the machine being under suliicient tension, to maintain the mold in place except as it is forced downwardly by the plunger. The casing of the machine has an upper front opening into which the molds may be introduced and a lower front opening for removing the molds after they have been filled with the plastic material. l

Having briefly outlined my im roved construction, I will proceed to descri e the same in detail reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which isV illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In this drawing, Figure 1 is a front view of my improved machine or a view looking in the direction of arrow1 Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, parts being broken away and parts sectionized. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the machine. Fig. l is a section taken on the line 1 4 Fig.- 1 looking downwardly. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectionA taken through the plunger, the coperating mold being indicated by dotted lines. Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken on the line 6 6 Fig. 5.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views. v

Let the numeral'5 designate an upright casing which as shown in the drawing is rectangular in cross section and provided at its corners with vertically disposed angle bars 6 to which are secured front and rear walls 7 and 8 by means of suitable fastening devices 9. The front wall is provided with an upper opening 10 for the introduction of the mold These side` walls are attached to the frame at their up- Y per extremities in any suitable manner. As shown in the drawing (see Fig. 2), the side wall is secured to a top piece 16 by means of fastening devices 17. This top piece is attached to the 'angle bars at the top as shown at 1S, the ends of the piece 16 projecting inside of the side flanges of the angle bars as indicated by dotted lines.

About midway of the casing on each side, transverse pieces 19 are secured to the corner angle bars by fastening devices 20. These transverse pieces bear against side suspension rods 21 which engage the side walls 15 on the outside. a certain degreeof pressure upon the side 4walls below the top. 'At the lower extremities of these side walls, tension devices 22 mounted u on rods 23, are employed to impart to the oose depending side walls 15, the necessary tension for retaining the molds in place until moved downwardly by the plunger as hereinafterv described. Each of these tension devices includes two `bars 73 and 24, the bar 73 being bent inwardly to engagement with the side walls 15 as shown at 25 `and secured thereto by bolts 26. Each -bar 24`is straight and engages its coperating bar 73 at the extremities of the latter where both are slidably mounted upon the rods 23 and engaged by coil springs 27 whose outer extremities engage washers 28 which are lforced against the springs by tension nuts 29 provided with' operating arms 30. There is one of these tension `devices on each side of the machine andas they are identical in the side walls 15 through the bars 73 and 24, impart to the side walls the necessary yielding pressure for supporting the molds or boxes 12 in position within the casing until they are forced downwardly either by the directactionof the plunger or by the molds 0r boxes above, the uppermost of these every respect, a description ofone is a de- Ascription of both. It is evident that by ad-v justing the nuts 29, the springs `,27 may be given any desired tension which acting on IIO . ployed.

molds being always acted upon by the plunger. As shown in the drawing the mold is provided with three core pieces, one being centrally located and y designated 3]., the others being located at opposite sides and each designated 32. may be of any suitable construction. lf it is desired to form the blocks .hollow as is usual, a suitable core or cores must be emrlhe plunger' which. is designated in its entirety by the reference numeral 83, forms at the same time both a feed hopper and a device for packing the concrete or other plastic material into the mold and simultaneously I feeding or forcing the latter downwardly between and around the cores 3l and 32.

within the casing. This plunger is provided with side walls 34, two upright interiorly located members 35 and bottom members 35 located on opposite sides of the members 35. The members 35 and 36 are so arranged that when the plunger enters the mold i2, the said members fill the spaces within the mold it will thus be observed that when the plunger is above the cores, it is rovided with openings having an area equa to that of the mold cores and as the material is fed into the plunger when the latter is above the mold, the said material passes through the said openings into the mold which is supported. below as hereinafter explained. ln Figs. 5 and 6, the mold is indicated by dotted lines and from this it will be understood that the sides of the plunger are adapted to enter the mold in which they iit closely. To the top of the plunger and surrounding the same, an extension 37 is secured. This extension is in alinemcnt with the mold, and engages the upper edge of the latter when the bottom of the plunger is in engagement with the bottom of the mold.

To the top of the plunger members 35 are secured boxes 38 in which is journaled a shaft 39 which as shown in the drawing is formed integral with two pitmen 40 whose outer extremities are connected with the crank 4l of a shaft 42 whose opposite extremities are journaled in boxes 43 secured to the top of the casing.

To one extremity of the crank shaft is made fast a fly wheel 44. To the opposite extremity of the crank shaft is made fast a clutch member 45 by means of a fastening device 46. A cooperating clutch member 47 is made fast to a sprocket wheel 48, the latter as well as the clutch member being normally loose upon the crank shaft. Outside of the sprocket wheel and also mounted upon the crank shaft is a coil spring 49 acted upon by a tension nut 50. The tension of this spring is normally such as to hold the clutch member 47 in operative engagement with its cooperating member 45. The sprocket wheel 48 is connected by a chain 51 with a sprocket The mold, howev'ei'.

52 fast on a shaft 53 `iournaled in the casing. Upon this shaft is also mounted and made fast an operating pulley 54 which may be l connected by means of a belt 55 with a line l shaft or any suitable motor (not shown).

There are two suspension rods 2l each of which is provided at its lower extremity with an inwardly bent hook or member 5G. The upper extremities of these rods are connected as shown at 57 with a Ful-shaped handle 5S whose arms o() are pivotally connected with a rod 5.() as shown at 6l, the said rod being mounted in apertured ears 62 forn'ied upon the two rear angle bars G. The handle 58 is supported forward of its connection with ther rods 2l by means of coil springs G3 one being located on each side of the machine, their upper extremities being connected with the machine as shown at ('34 and their lower ex tremities with the handle arms 60 shown at 65. These springs support the handle 5S in such a position that the hook extremities 55 of the suspension rods 21 are supported some distance above the bottom of the easing (see Figs. l and 2), thus forming a yielding support for the lowermost mold as the latter is forced downwardly by the molds above. As soon the mold comes in contact with the hooks 5G, the operator by pressing down wardly upon the handle/5S, may lower the same to the bottom of the casing and remove it through the opening .1.3, before the next mold is in position to engage the susliension rods. By virtue of this arrangement, there is no danger of an accident by reason of having the casing Vfilled with molds, whereby the plunger would not have room for its downward movement without breaking some of the apparatus. As soon as the attendant obl serves by the action of the handle, that one of the molds is in engagement with the rod cxtremities 56, he knows that it is time to remove the mold and presses downwardly on the handle as heretofore explained.

From the foregoing description the use and operation of my improved machine will be readily understood. The front side of the machine is equipped with a pair of brackets G6, which form a support for one of the mold boxes l2. These brackets support the mold box directly in front of the opening l0 formed in the front wall of the casing. Vr'hen it is desired to introduce the mold into the casing, the mold is simply forced inwardly from the bracket 66 through the opening 1() whereby it assumes its position bctnf'ecn the tension-controlled side walls l5. As soon as the mold is in the casing, the plastic material as cement or concrete, is fed into the machine through a chute 67, being delivered to the hollow plunger 33 and iassing through the core openings therein, fa ls downwardly into the mold box which is directly beneath the plunger. In order to operate the plunger', motion is transmitted to the pulley .i4 and the shaft 53, whence it is communicated to the crank shaft 42 through the medium of sprocket wheels 52 and 48 and the clutch membersV 47 and 45. Every time the plunger descends, it enters a mold box 12 and has a stroke sufficient to reach the bottom of the box when the latter is iirst introduced as heretofore explained. However, as the plastic material as cement or concrete Vpasses through the plunger into the box, the said material forms a stop above the bottom of the moldbox, with the result that the latter is forced downwardly by the plunger a distance e ual to the depth of the material within tie box. As this operation is cone tinued, the plunger continues to engage the material in the box forcing the latter downwardly a certain 'distance every time the plunger descends, until the box is filled, the plunger having served to pack the material therein. As soon as this occurs, another mold box is introduced in the manner heretofore explained, the second box occupying a position directly above the iilled box, after which the operation is continued, each successive box, serving as it moves downwardly under the influence of the plunger, to drive the box next below downwardly until the lowermost box reaches the hooked extremities 56 of the suspension rods, when the operator thrusts the handle 58 downwardly, lowering the lowermost box into position to be removed through the front opening 13.

When for any reason it is desired to stop n the movement of the plunger, the loose clutch member 47 is disengaged from the fast clutch member 45, by means of an operating lever arm 68 fulcrumed at 69 upon a top projection 70. rlhis lever arm rests upon a similar top projection 7l and may be thrust outwardly or toward the left as shown in Fig. 1 and is operatively connected with the clutch member 47, to disengage the latter from the clutch member 45. For this purpose, the lever is provided with upwardly projecting arms 72 which engage a circumferential groove 74 formed in the clutch member 47,. rlhe lever 68 when the crank shaft is in motion, occupies a position on the right (see Figs. 1 and 3) of a stop pin 75. This lever arm has sufficient vertical movementto permit it to be lifted over the stop pin when disengaging the clutch members whereby it may be caused to occupy a position on the left of the pinwhich holds the lever in the adjusted position whereby the clutch members aredisengaged to stop the movement of the plunger. When it is desired to operate the plunger again, the position of the lever arm is reversed by lifting it over the stop pin and placing it in the position illustrated in Figs. l and 3.

The side` walls l5 of the casing while attached to the upper extremity thereof are of such length that they may be pressed inwardly by the tension devices heretofore described in order to maintain the molds in place until they are fed downwardly by the plunger as heretofore explained. In other words there is sufficient spring or yielding capacity to these side walls to allow them to perform the function heretofore attributed to them.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim is:

1. In a machine of the class described, the combination with an upright casing, of a mold adapted to enter the casing and normally maintained in a predetermined position, the mold, however, being capable of downward movement in response to force applied from above, a plunger mounted to reciprocate within the casing and enter the mold, means extending along the sides of the machine and adapted to receive the mold as it leaves the casing and means for feeding material into the mold, the arrangement being such that as the depth of material increases within the mold, the latter is fed downwardly in response to the action of thel plunger, substantially as described.

2. The combination with an upright casing, of yieldingly retained casing sides springretained vertically disposed suspension rods mounted on opposite sides of the casing, a mold adapted to enter the casing and engage the said sides, the lower extremities of the suspension rods being inwardly turned to engage the mold as the latter is fed downwardly, and means for actuating the mold within the casing whereby it is moved downwardly into engagement with the inwardly-turned extremities of the suspension rods, substantially as described.

3. The combination with an upright casing, of spring retained vertically disposed suspension rods mounted on opposite sides of the casing, a mold adapted to enter the casing and engaging its sides, and means actuating the mold within the casing whereby it is moved downwardly into engagement with the lower extremities of the suspension rods, substantially as described.

4. The combination with an upright casing, of spring retained suspension rods mounted on the sides of the casing, a mold adapted to enter the casing, and means for actuating molds within the casing whereby it is moved downwardly into engagement with the rods, substantially as described.

. ln testimony whereof'l aflix my signature in presenceof two witnesses.

LEWIS FLANAGAN. Witnesses A. J. OBRIEN, DENA NnLsoN. 

